Previews

Fable 2

As it happens, the man's name is Lucian. Molyneux wasn't forthcoming with very many details, but he did say that he was intent on building a 500-mile tower for some nefarious purpose. Apparently, you have a choice when it comes to the tower in that you can opt to take control when the time comes. To what end remains a mystery.

Naturally, this implies that there will be much in the way of combat, which, incidentally, is another RPG element that Molyneux is hoping to help redefine. Overall, it sounds like he wants to inject a measure of realism into the action-inflected combat system found in the original Fable. He intends to achieve this mostly by having the environment factor more heavily into the dynamics of the combat system. For example, no longer will your sword strokes be unbound by the laws of physics; you simply won't be able to deliver an arching blow in the confines of a narrow hallway. The intended effect is to make the game's combat system more strategic in the broader sense -- that is, to force players to take into account their location and the nature of their environment -- rather than encourage them to rely on rhythm and reflex alone.

Molyneux also mentioned that there is one surprise he's yet to unveil, and he promised that it would be quite momentous. He refused to elaborate, however. Not surprising. Our guess: If you lose at Fable 2, your Xbox 360 will implode. Either that, or something even more absurd -- like making the game an MMO. We'll just have to wait and see.